ABOUT FACTS NET Ancient

A fantastic discovery was made in Iran. It predates Steamboat Willy by somewhere between 4,000 to 5,000 years. It is an animation, yes an animation No animation this old has ever been found anywhere before. The animation is drawn around a bowl, and as the bowl turns the movement becomes obvious. The faster the turning, the smoother the movie. The animation is of a goat jumping up to a tree branch or bush to get some leaves to eat. This amazing piece of ancient art was found in Iran in what is know as the Burnt City. The Burnt City was populated from 3200 BC to 2100 BC. and is an area where many famous finds have been dug up lately, such as ancient versions of games that are still played today and some very ancient women's earrings that proved that women wore earrings back that far in time. The bowl was found in a grave and it is believed that the person buried there was the artist who created the animation The Burnt City is located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Another very interesting find occurred in Egypt. It has been known for quite a while that ancient glass was produced but these pieces were thought to have been hand produced one at a time by maybe one person. But leave it to the Egyptians to have been more advanced at the time. A glass factory has been unearthed that is over 3,000 years old. There are some pieces of glass that are older than this but this is the oldest factory ever found. The site is located at Qantir-Piramesses, it is on the Nile Delta. It was mass producing glass in 1250 BC. Egypt was not suspected as being the country that first mass produced glass, previously it was thought that Mesopotamia would hold that title. Glass fragments have been found that date back to 1,500 BC. The remains of 200 to 300 vessels have been found at the site.

A crypt was opened in Guatemala and it revealed an ancient murder. The murdered were women and their bodies had been arranged in a ritualistic way. It is believed that these women were killed in some sort of power struggle. One of the women was pregnant. Scientists theorize that a power struggle was taking place between Mayan cities. A representative from the Smithsonian who is a Mayan specialist stated that these were powerful women and that women were often killed in this struggles. The tomb was found at Waka or El Peru. It is only about 40 miles from Tikal, a very famous site. It is thought that when there was a takeover, the entire bloodline was eliminated. Waka was at its zenith around 300 to 400 AD.

An ancient city lies in Turkey named Afrodisias. Some of it has been excavated but more than 80% is still underground. Interest was sparked in this area when a photographer got lost and landed up in Geyre a city built over Afrodisias. He noticed that some of the buildings had beautiful tiles and asked where they came from. He was shocked to hear the reply that there were plenty of theses things around here. A temple was found and after being restored received an award as the best restored artwork in the world. This is a pretty tough award to beat. Already thousands of works of art have been found. A museum is going to be built to house all the artifacts that come out of the dig.

Unlaid eggs has been found inside a dinosaur. Scientists are very excited about this because it gives them an insight into the reproductive biology of these animals. This was the first time such a find was ever made. It was said that the reproductive system resembled a crocodile in some ways and a bird in other ways. One difference is that birds can only lay one egg at a time because they have only one ovary. The find was made in China.

A site in Spain is being unearthed called Tiermes. It is a Roman and Medieval site. At the center of the ancient city is a Roman Forum. Many public buildings have been unearthed but their functions are yet to be discovered. Apparently the city was inhabited from the Bronze Age all the way through the 13th century AD. The city was constructed from the bed rock of the area and has a very unique aqueduct.